Resolve

(The following all come from various dictionary entries at dictionary.com)

1.to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something): I have resolved that I shall live to the full.

Resolution

3. A course of action determined or decided on.

11. a decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner; “he always wrote down his New Year’s resolutions”

resolution1[rezəˈluːʃən]noun a firm decision (to do something)
Example: He made a resolution to get up early.

Czech:

odhodlání

Danish:

beslutning

Dutch:

besluit

Estonian:

otsus

Finnish:

päätös

French:

résolution

German:

der Entschluß

Greek:

απόφαση

Hungarian:

elhatározás

Icelandic:

ákvörðun; ásetningur

Indonesian:

tekad

Italian:

decisione

Latvian:

lēmums; apņemšanās

Lithuanian:

tvirtas apsisprendimas

Norwegian:

beslutning

Polish:

postanowienie

Portuguese (Brazil):

resolução

Portuguese (Portugal):

resolução

Romanian:

hotărâre

Russian:

намерение

Slovak:

odhodlanie

Slovenian:

odločitev

Spanish:

resolución

Swedish:

beslut

Turkish:

sıkı karar

New Year’s Eve is here. Around my house, this is the day for taking down the tree, and throwing out, sorting through files, clearing desks, readying school bags and clearing cupboards. Again, it is preparation for what is to come.

In reality, tomorrow is just another day, and all of today’s cleaning will soon be undone. By the end of the week, my school bag will once again be a jumble, but at least for today, everything is neat, pencils are all in place and sharpened, and I feel ready to take on the world.

Today the tree moved outside and is now a habitat for the winter birds. The rug has been vacuumed and vacuumed, and the furniture rearranged so everything could be vacuumed underneath.

It is a lovely time to reflect on all the many events of the past year: the big events (my surgery, my sons turning 7, 11, and 14) and the small events of everyday; the trials (breaking dishwasher, the rebuilding of the man about the places car to fix the heater, the drought) and the triumphs (baseball season, school successes); the lives lost (lovely, lovely Francis) and the lives reconnected and new friendships forged. 2007 is now about to be history, and we will look into 2008 with expectation and hope for a wonderful new year.

Tomorrow I will post my resolutions… I always spend the week between Christmas and New Year thinking about what I will resolve. I know many people no longer do resolutions, but I like them. I like to make a plan, set a goal, see what I can spur myself to accomplish. Just like with my Advent blogging, it sets my course, even if I don’t adhere completely to it, get everything done, or decide to scrap it in the middle. It keeps me from feeling like I am caught in an endless muddle… I have a direction to head, and a plan for getting there.

But today I am mulling over the past… the past year, the past month, the past week, and here are some of my reflections:

Just yesterday, the youngest son began to really get the idea of reading. He suddenly “got” how to put the sounds together to form words, and left the realm of reading what was really memorized, into trying hard to sound each word out. It will be the end of the era of mom and dad being sole reader for a child…. and although we still read at the dinner table, the bedtime story may go out the window this year.

It is so good to have time to get back to my ‘creative’ side.. and clearing out projects and mending and doing things I have been longing to do… like this kit from a cousin. She sent me a Sushi Wallet kit to do while I was recovering from my surgery. I was resolved to get it done before the year was out. I chose the striped version, and it is a lovely roomy wallet. I was so glad to discover I can felt in my front loading washing machine.

I have other projects I want to finish though, including my rosebud sweater. I need to try to set in this sleeve and assure it fits right, before I do the other sleeve.

I cannot wait to wear it when it is done. In order to prepare time for doing more fun stuff, I got 2 weeks worth of ironing done, and mended a pile of stuff… things needing buttons and quick patches. Cleared off space on my work surface so I could try something new.

Like this circular dishcloth…my new knit while blog reading easy project from the Dishcloth boutique.

And because it is the holiday, and I should have some fun, I broke into the lovely Kidsilk Haze an aunt gave me for Christmas and began the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits. Ahh… what fun, and what a challenge… my leisurely purely indulgent knitting.

What a wonderfully full year 2007 has been. Tonight it will be salmon and potatoes for dinner, a little bubbly and popcorn later on, and games… Monopoly, hearts, spades, Tripoly, Clue, as we all try to stay up to see that 2008 gets here safely. See you in 2008!!